Mortiser Cleanup and Setup

Because I am relatively new to the hobby and prior to building the shop I had absolutely no woodworking or carpentry experience most of the tools I have had previous owners.  I will discuss tool ownership.  It will expain in more detail how I came to obtain my tools, and how I was able to ammass a number of tools at relatively low cost.

Getting to the mortiser.  It is a JET Bench Top Mortiser Part# JBM-5 that can be found here.  Being the impatient, and puzzling person I often am.  When I cut the mortises for cradle one, I didn’t have the depth adjustment, and I didn’t screw the mortiser down to the table.  Now it worked… But, I definitely wouldn’t suggest using this tool without having it held down to the table (especially when you have more than 120 mortises to cut).   I am now all tied down properly.  I just used four long carriage bolts, large washers and nuts.

I wiped her (the mortiser) down really good to get her looking better.  I am a bit embarrassed to say that it still had the original owners dust on it when I used it for Cradle I.  There is still some rust on the post that I will deal with before she finds her final resting place in the shop.  Nothing in the shop is in it’s final position, or mounted where they will stay as of yet.  The babies started coming and cradles needed making. 

Tonight and tomorrow’s primary focus will be on the mortises that must be “drilled”.  Tonight’s task will be to layout.  As much as I would like to start getting these done, I don’t want to be fatigued whilst completing this mission.  I have made many errors whilst working and being tired.  Thank goodness I still have all of my fingers.

I also am looking into getting a new tool.  I am looking into purchasing some setup blocks from Kreg.  They run about $44.99, and my frugal nature has left them on the shelf once.  If anyone has experience with these (positive or negative) please comment.  Also if there are lower cost alternatives that you can recommend, please do.  I would like to find a less expensive alternative. 

Upcoming Posts on Cradle II:

Mortising Layout and Cut

Tennon Cutting & Clean Up

Hole Boring and Glue Up

Finishing

Here are some pictures of my current setup, and a video I found.

Cradle I

Here is a picture of a cradle I finished right before Christmas.  The wood species is Poplar.  The finish is four coats of shellac and one coat of wax.

I have started another cradle which is being made from Walnut.  More posts to come on Cradle II

The shellac used is Zinser blonde shellac the product is here.  It is the picture in the upper right-hand corner.  Now I am not sure if this product is wax free; however, there is a sealer that specifically states it is wax free.

Can anywone provide some insights on the wax/non-wax versions of this product.

Getting Started

This blog is to share my woodworking experiences with others.  Because I am relatively new to woodworking, and the only previous experience I had was a seventh grade shop class, you will see many conclusions that I come to leaving you scratching your head.  This is because I don’t usually do things the right way the first time.  This is of course not by design, however, this will give you the reader the opportunity to comment and provide help to me, and others following this blog along the way.

I will be showing progress of various projects, and include my methodology and its reasoning.  I welcome all comments…  Good, Bad or Ugly.  I hope to learn a lot through this process, and give others an opportunity to learn right along with me.

Thank you for visiting, please come back and visit us again.

Some sites I recommend are:

Some sites I recommend are:

Southeast Michigan Woodworkers

Fine Wood Working Magazine

Wood Magazine

Woodsmith Shop (Free Plans!)

Wood Whisperer

Ask Woodman